Sasse pitching, hit spark Pioneers

Brett Sasse pitched his way out of a jam in the sixth and sparked the Pioneer offense and the Nebraska City baseball team edged Plattsmouth 2-0 at Clemmy Holmes Field Thursday night.

Kirt Manion

Brett Sasse pitched his way out of a jam in the sixth and sparked the Pioneer offense and the Nebraska City baseball team edged Plattsmouth 2-0 at Clemmy Holmes Field Thursday night.
Plattsmouth put two runners on base with no one out in the top of the sixth inning and was threatening to break a scoreless tie.
Sasse, the Pioneers’ starter on the mound, responded by striking out the side, then leading off the bottom half of the inning with a single.
A well-placed bunt by Bladen Bales and a hit by Josh Peterson put the Pioneers ahead 1-0 and Bales ended up scoring on a Plattsmouth error to give the Pioneers a 2-0 lead.
Sasse pitched the seventh and ended the game with a 15 strikeout and two walk performance that has him among the state leaders in strikeouts with 59 total this year.
The Plattsmouth offense was limited to just six hits.
Nebraska City had five hits.
In addition to hits by Bales, Sasse and Peterson, the Pioneers got singles from Trevor Kreifel and Gabe Sammons.
The only other base runners for Nebraska City came on walks issued to Tommie Knapp, Nathan Zaroban and Sammons.
The clutch moments of the game came down to Sasse’s performance.
Coach Tom Bales said Sasse has a track record of such performances.
“Brett has done a great job pitching for us the last couple of years,” said Coach Bales. “I have complete confidence in his ability on the mound.
“That lead off single was exactly what we needed to get something going.”
The bunt that followed Sasse’s single was just as clutch.
“Bladen has worked hard on fundamental things and it’s times like that where the extra time pays off,” said Coach Bales.
“We have bunted well this year, but with the new bats, we knew we would have to.”

Nebraska City, 4-10, was scheduled to play Monday at Beatrice before coming home to host Crete at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.